Apparatus for coating and drying photographic papers, photographic-film support and similar manufactures.



,I A F.1M. c0ssx & L. D. CAsTom y APPARATUSIFOR COATIIIIG AND DHYING PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPERSLYPHOTOGRAPHIC FILM l SUPPORT, AND SIMILAR MANUFACTURES.

APPLICATION FILED `MAY 14,/1'914.

, '.ZSHTS SHEETZ f -Patented Feb, 8,1916;

- may be automaticallyand continuously sup]L lplies the coating toone side onlyof the i FRANKLIN M.

STATES ons To ANsco COMPANY, oFfjBrNeHAMroN, New YoRK.c-

FILM' sUPPo AND SIMILAR M'ANUFACTURES.

'n 1 1 fi l Specification of Letters Betrapt.

' v j Appucatlba ined May 14,1914. l seriaiNo. s3s,447..

1 represents a frame which may be made ofany suitable material.

- Be it known that we, FRANKLIN. Cos-A srrT and Lewis-D. CAs'roR, both citizens of cossrrr AND'ILEWIS n. oAs'ron, or BINGHAMTON, NEwfYofRi,"

the United' States,`and both residents of the city of Binghamton, county of Broome, and State of: vNew York, have invented a new and I .Improved Apparatusfor Coating and -Dry ing `Photographic Papers, Photographic-M r Film Support andQSimilar'Manufacturea of 10 which the follovvings'V a specification, referv ence being Ihadto the acpompanying drawings.

vThe invention iconsistsA in an A apparatus ,J. adapted to apply upon one ofthe ysurface'sof" l .whichchamber it passes over a guide roller* 9j which' the example shown has a stockprote'cting rubber, felt-.or .other surfacex a continuouslymovmg web, sheet or filma coating ofsuitable iuent materialand setp APPARATUS Pon CoA'r'ING lAND 'nRYING 15'Ho'.roGRAN-11G PAPERS, 'PI-IorocrzRAP-i-Iid-- Patented Feb.8,19'16. j

k2 is.one'of`a pa1r4 of brackets with ajournal upon' which is rotatably supported upona shaft 4 a coil or roll 5 of I f i i the web, sheet or film (hereinafter called the stock) to be coated. It passes in the-direction o fthe arrow o ver a series of guide and tene slqn rollers 6, 6', 6,l which-may be of any.

preferred material and construction. They the Walls? of thevacuumfchamber 8 4within the operations being performed' a partial vacuum. The 'apparatus' is provided. with l passes thence vunder a coating roller 10 which similarto that of therollers 6. The stock means whereby the fluent coating material isflocated in a coating trough '11 and-api' l provisionl is-also made for continuously removing from the vacuum chamber the vapors of the volatile solvents and condensing them .for recovery.. The' uncoate'd sheet, webor filmV and. also thel coated and dried product may be inclosed. within the chamber or may beexterior thereto and passedthereinto and and claim our new process.

therefrom throughsuitable airtight, or sufliciently air tight devices. The object we have -in view is the produc-` tion of photographicproducts, paper, film and the like, sensitive to light, in which the sheet', web or film will be the support merely for a photographically sensitive coating or layer applied to one of the surfaces. Therefore in the production of this class of .gifiods, various problems are presented, which are admirably solved by our apparatus, the peculiar nature of which is fully set forth in an application Serial No. 838,446, filed byns concurrently herewith, in which We describe Referringl to the drawings,l trates an elevation, partly broken away, off

' one form of apparatus embodying our in-J with the sensitive or other coating from a vreservoir 12 which may vbeoutside of the .$80

it as preferred. After passing lunder the vacuum chamber as illustrated, orinside of coating roller the stock 5 extends upwardly 5 .still within the vacuum chamber over a guide roller l-and thence through an extension (preferably although not necessarily horiz'ontal) of the vacuum chamber 8. In its transit it is supported in 'any suitable manner. We prefer a series of rollers 14 because when they are employed, morefree circulation of airI currents about the coated stock will be secured than if a continuous table is employed, but a series of bars or slat workor for that matter a supporting surface ofany kind may be employed, provided it makes contact only withthe unco'ated side of the stock. We impose no limitation in this respect and for certain manufactures no supporti whatever will be necessary. f

. In the vacuum chamber' is an exhaust tube 15 provided with openings 16 shown in this Figure 1 illusj instanceas made in its under surface. They may, however, .be located at any preferred part. This exhaust tube is in open-connection with a series of pipes 17 whichconnect lwith a longitudinal pipe 18 whichl in turn connects with' a pipe 19. leading to avacuum pump 0 run by a suitable electric motor or other'p'ower as indicated and from the pump the exhaust pipe eXtends to a condenser indicated at 2l.

After the stock 5 has passed through the vacuum chamber which is. made of such j 5 length as is'necessary to sufficiently dry the coating upon the stock, it may pass through the opposite wall of the vacuum chamber as f at 22 over a guideroller 23 and is wound up as at 24 upon ashaft which is driven by belting 25 connecting with `any suitable source of "power 26 in a manner well known. Ve show duplicate brackets 27, 2T, upon the frame l. because it will sometimes be convenient to run more than one strip or .band

-'15 of stock through the machine at the same time and for this purpose the guide rollers,

` coating roller, vacuum chamber and \all its appurtenances may be made of such width as will accommodate one or more strips of stock of any preferred width.

The detail of one form of coating apparatus is'illustrate'd in Figs. 2 and 3. -The coating trough 28 is supported at one end by a fulcrum 29 or other suitable support. At`

its other end it rests upon' theinner end '30 of a lever 31 provided with an adjustable counterbalance 32. The lever is pivoted as at 33 upon a bracket 3l, The opening 35 through which the lever passes is made suffii cientlv airtight in any suitable manner as by a sliding sealing devicea. The pipe 36 lconnected with the reservoir 12 supplies the coating material which flows in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2. Its lower end is .turned upwardly as shown -and seals v against the underside of the top which partially covers the coating trough when the trough is full as shown best in Fig. 2. The

coating trough 28 rests within' an exteriorl 40 Xed trough or bath 37vwhich may be heated in any preferred manner so as to maintain the coatingv material at such temperature as desired.

In order that the insucking of air owing to the vacuum within the vacuum chamber may be prevented or reduced to a negligible degree and yet the stock not be injured in its passage through the walls of the vacuum chamber, we prefer to provide the openings through which the stock enters and passes from the va'cuuni chamber with suitable Sudiciently airtight devices shown at 88 and 3S@ in Fig. 3. The upper one 38 may be made of any preferred material. Its rounded edge which engages with the stock may, if desired, be covered with some suitable nonabrasive material,.as, for instance, closely woven felt or plush, notshown. The lower one 38a may be similarlyconstructed' but 50 -we prefer to make it of relatively soft rubber as indicated. The surface which comes in contact with the stock may also be covered with protective material. These parts being separated theend of the web may be passed between them into the vacuum chamtightness.

ber, then being readjusted and fastened as by set screws and washer'A shown, the web may be so closely held between the ODPOSed edges of the parts referredto Vas'to lredlce leakage of air to a negligible'amount and 70 yet not injure or scratch the surface of the stock. i'

NIany useful details of construction are not illustrated nor described for they formv no essential part of .the invention. Te will state, however, that inorder to facilitate the threadingof the leading end of the stock through the machine, we prefer to have removable sections l0 (see Fig. l) in the upbeneficially be provided with some suitable `sealing material, as, for instance, rubber gaskets, so as to secure the requisite air- The operation is as follows: The cover sections 40 are .removed from the vacuum chamber, the stock 5 is threaded through the machine as described and the leading 9o end of it made fast to the winding up device. The covers 40 are then replaced. The

coating material, sensitized or otherwise as the Acase maybe, is then allowed to flow from the reservoir l2 into the coating trough. 95

Asthe trough gradually fills its weight is increased so that it will depress the counterpoise 32 which is adjusted .upon the lever 3l as conditions may require. lVhen 4the coating trough is suiiiciently full, it will have swung downwardly so far that the upturned end of the xed pipe 36 will Colne in contact with the cover of the trough as above stated and thusl act as a valve to cut otf -the further incoming of the coating material.

The vacuum pump is now started and owing to the relatively small space inclosed within the vacuum chamber, the rarefaction of the air is quickly accomplished. The degree of vacuum requisite for successful operation will depend upon the character of the coating material, 2'. e., the volatilityl of the solvents employed, its viscosity, the speed with which the machine is run, the length of the vacuum chamber and to some extentalso upon the character of the stock being treated. Therefore no fixed degree of vacuum can be stated, lbut for ordinary purposes from 10 to l5 inches will be suiiicient. When the desired 'vacuum hasvbeen established, i3() which may be indicated by any suitable gage not shown, the apparatus is started and the winding up device whichis positively driven will draw the stock through the apparatus at the determined speed. During its transit 123 it will have become coated, the coating set and suiiciently dried or 'hardened to permit the finished product to be coiled up as shown in a roll 24v.

Especial attention is called to the fact that v obviously be very greatly reduced in volume condition ofthe coating Amaterial, the spot.v

l where the biibbleivas ivi-ll immediately close or be @owed over', thus producing a smoothv inasmuch as the' `coatingtroughthe,l coating material fis-placed is litself within 1 thevacuum chamber, there will be no bubbles in it for vowing to the `reduction yof atmospheric pressure .dueto the ,-if'ac-uuin they will instantly 'come tothe .siiifacer, break 'and disappear and if by any'possibility'ga 'bubble should here and tliere'be Atakengiipupon the' surface of the traveling st ock, it wil-1;: in',- stantljy break and owing. to the then-.fluent surface.

Owingto-the presence ofthe vacuum, z'. ,1., the relief of atmosphericv pressure', the volatility of the-solvents will be very greatly y increased, sothatthe coating upon the stock Willalmost immediately* set and quickly thereafterv dry or harden, so that by' the time it reachesl the end of the vacuum chamber it will be in condition'to be coied up for use or storave.'

We call'specialatteiitiion to the fact that,

the exhaust from-the vacuum chamber will ais-compared with the volume of air that is I .necessarily present where a'blower or other means i's employed for generating drying air currents asheretoforecustomaryl in the 1 manufacture of the products we contemplate, .so that the expense of condensation under our system is materially-lessened because instead'of there being a` large lvolume of air but slightly impregnated with the vapors of the volatile solvents, there lis a small volumeonlyandit is heavily surcharged -therewith and thus the expense of Y. ,refrigeration is wry greatly reduced. 4oY

We have illustrated 4the reservoir and supply-andta'ke .up roller as located outside of the vacuum chamber because in ordinary. apparatus'this will be the most feasible construction, but obviouslythese features may. some or allot4 them be inclosed within the vacuum.,chanber.f"The fact that the stock is dry andhard and that it does notlencounter the coating materialv until it is within the vacuumchainber enables us to pass it through airtight, or suiiiciently 'airtight de- ,vi'cesv as described, lfrom the exterior to the vinterior of the chamber and vice versa without scratching o'r otherwise injuring the surface of the stock. Of course if the coating' material be sensitive to light and thereser voii' be upon the outside of the vacuuin chamber, -it will b'e-necessary to provide suitable, means, now wellA known and not shown, to prevent the contents of the reservoir from becoming light struck.

The apparatus Awe have hereinabove described and .illustrated is one form only in which our invention may be embodied and therefore We do' not limit ourselves to the details above described and illustrated. i

'l claim i i 1.' In a coating andfdrying ap-paratusthe combinationjofl a vacuumchan-iber, mea to create vand maintain the vacuum in 'th chamber, coating y devices adapted' to4 apr the coating materiaLto one side only of th stock, supporting'and guiding;devices'orf^ the coated-stock located in the, vacuum chainifber and-adapted to maintain thelooatedside ofthe stock free from conta'ctfffwith other surfaces, and means to move tliefgstockltirst to the coating de'vicesand then aivay theres frorn-tliroughtlie vacuum chamber. l -.2.I;n a coatin-gan'd ldrying apparatus' 'the combination of afvacuum chamber, means to create 4andmainftain the X'f'acuum` in the chamber, coating devices adapted to apply the coating materialvto one side only ofthe stock, means/to automatically maintain the level ofthe. coating material within the coati '.ing tank, 'support and guiding devices for the vcoated sto. -ocated in-thevacuum i chamber and 'adaptedz-tomaintaiir the coated side of "the f stock-@free from contact -with 4'other' surfaces,l and '-fmeans to continuously move the 'stock to the-.coating devices,I then4 h 'the chamber and 4away rom.

throu therei`g '3. 'In a-coai't-ing'anddrying apparatus the combination of 'a'lvacuum' chamber, 'means to create and maintain the vacuum in the chamber, a condenser connected with said means, coating devices adapted to apply the -I coating material to '-one side only of the stock, 'supporting ,and guiding devices for the coated stock ylocated in the'vacuum chamber andadapted to maintain the c'oated side'of the/'stock free from contact with other" surfaces, and means to continuously advance the, stockirst to the coating devices and then awa'y therefren-fthrough the Vdetermine the level of the coating material within the tank, and means to continuously v move the stocklirstto the coating devices and then away therefrom through the vacuum chamber.

5. .E1n a coating and drying apparatus the combination 'of a vacuum chamber provided with openings in its walls for the entrance and exit ofY the stock, devices to retard the suction of air. at the nsaid openings, means to create and'maintain a Vvacuum in the chamber, coating devices, supporting and guiding devices onthe coated stock located.

in the vacuum chamber and. adapted to maintain the coated side of the stock free from contact with other surfaces, and means to continuously move the stock fromthe. eX-

terior of the vacuum `chamber through its/ Wall to the coating devices, then through the vacuum chamber, and then through its Wall tothe exterior thereof.

6. In a coating and drying apparatus the combination of a Vacuum chamber provided with openings in its Walls for the entrance and exit of the stock, devices to retard the suctionof .air at the said openings, means to create and maintain a vacuum Within said chamber, coating devices adapted to apply' the coatingmaterial to one side-only of the stock, and means to continuously. move the stock from the exterior of the vacuum chamber through its Wall to the coating devices,.15

then throughthe vacuum chamber and then through its Wall to" the exterior thereof.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

FRANKIIN M. COSSITT. LEVIS 1). CASTOR.

Witnesses:

HENRY F. MEEHAN, L. D. FIELD. 

